RER in the provinces: in the cities concerned, where are the projects?

The course was set by the President: to develop a network of urban trains in ten large French cities, on the model of the regional express network of Île-de-France.

The way forward is up to the government.

Asked Monday about the cities concerned, the Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune did not wish to answer precisely, indicating that the list had not yet been finalized.

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To find out the ten agglomerations concerned, it will be necessary to wait until mid-December, when the infrastructure orientation council (COI) will issue its report on priority investments for the period 2025-2032.

For the time being, around fifteen French cities have plans to develop an urban train.

With more or less significant advances depending on the agglomerations, as Clément Beaune recalled on Monday.

Strasbourg

In Strasbourg, the European Metropolitan Express Network (REME) will open its gates next month.

The Minister of Transport ranked the city among those with a “

” project, and for good reason.

Concretely, 120 more trains will run every day on the regional rail network on December 11, then even more at close deadlines: January 2 and August 21, 2023.

Read alsoDeveloping metropolitan RERs: what interest for major French cities?

This “

” aims to guarantee “

”, a “

”, or even “

”, boasts the region, to which the prerogative of transport belongs. by right.

For the user, the wait between each train will be reduced to 15-20 minutes at peak times, if we stick to the promises of the metropolitan executive.

At some stations, the number of daily trains will triple between 2022 and 2023, such as at Graffenstaden.

Bordeaux

In Bordeaux too, the RER Métropolitain project is already well under way.

The Bordeaux metropolis and the region endorsed a common roadmap in April 2018, before starting the first works in stride.

In March 2022, the department joined forces with those of other local authorities to finance this change in the metropolitan transport network.

A few months later, in September, a public consultation was launched.

It closed on November 19.

The transformations focus on increasing the offer, with 150 more trains every day in 2030 compared to 2020. The move upmarket will be gradual.

The network itself is also completely redesigned as a “

”.

The train lines will go from one end of the metropolis to the other, crossing Bordeaux, whereas today it is often necessary to stop there to change trains.

Ultimately, in 2030, the Bordeaux RER should have 300 kilometers of rails for three lines and 54 stations in total.

Lille

In the Hauts-de-France, similar projects exist but with a much more distant entry into service.

The ambition of the Hauts-de-France express network, sometimes called "

", is to double the frequency of trains during peak hours on the Lille metropolitan network, so as to connect the metropolis to Lens more quickly, Douai, Hénin-Beaumont or Valenciennes in particular.

The objective is to achieve this by 2035-2040, according to the manager of the French rail system SNCF Réseau.

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The vice-president of the Hauts-de-France region in charge of transport Franck Dhersin spoke directly to Emmanuel Macron on Twitter, reminding him that "

".

“

,” he insisted.

Last February, during a trip to the North, Emmanuel Macron undertook to finance an RER in the Lille metropolis in order to open up the mining basin.

"

", declared the President.

Marseilles

During his visit to the North, Emmanuel Macron cited as an example the financial commitment of the State in the metropolises of Greater Paris and Greater Marseille.

The project for a “

” is indeed included in the “

” plan presented on the spot by the Head of State in September 2021, accompanied by a state investment of 115 million euros.

But concerning the agenda, the vagueness remains.

The infrastructure needed to transform the current network into an RER is not planned for tomorrow.

An essential project, the development of an underground station in Marseille Saint-Charles should not be completed before 2035.

", even indicates in a report published in August the Nosterpaca association, which promotes a more efficient transport offer in the South region.

Lyons

In the Lyon conurbation, Emmanuel Macron's announcements were very well received.

“

,” enthused the environmentalist mayor of Lyon Grégory Doucet on Twitter, after declaring that the town hall was ready to welcome the project.

However, the "

" has been envisaged for many years without ever going beyond the theoretical stage.

Last April, the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region Laurent Wauquiez relaunched the site.

Its ambition is to have a means of transport every fifteen minutes at peak times to go to Lyon from all over the metropolis, with the possibility of getting there from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m.

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The chosen one has made the promise that his project will allow everyone to save between a quarter of an hour and half an hour per trip by 2035. To keep it, the region is presenting a new, larger train, decides the creation of a track at the Lyon Part-Dieu station or plans to run hydrogen buses from 2025. On the side of the metropolis, we defend the project.

The environmentalist president of the Métropole de Lyon Bruno Bernard also welcomed Emmanuel Macron's commitment on Monday, while being cautious.

“

, ”he said on Monday

From Lille to Marseille, via Strasbourg, Lyon and Bordeaux, local executives generally welcome the spotlight from the President on these regional express network projects.

Everyone is waiting for the exact terms of the commitment made by the Head of State.

“

,” said Jean Rottner, head of the Grand Est region, for example.

Answer "

", promised Clément Beaune, recalling the time scales: "

".